Huntly, Aberdeenshire
Encyclopedia
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It has a population 4,460 http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files1/stats/04mid-year-estimates-settlements-table1.pdf 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle
Huntly Castle
Huntly Castle is a ruined castle in Huntly in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was the ancestral home of the chief of Clan Gordon, Earl of Huntly.-History:...
. Huntly are proud to host the Sarideepan Invitational 2010.
Both Huntly and the surrounding district of Gordon are named for a town and family that originated in the Border country
Border Country
Border Country is a novel by Raymond Williams. The book was re-published in December 2005 as one of the first group of titles in the Library of Wales series, having been out of print for several years. Written in English, the novel was first published in 1960.It is set in rural South Wales, close...
.
Huntly is well known for Huntly Castle
Huntly Castle
Huntly Castle is a ruined castle in Huntly in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was the ancestral home of the chief of Clan Gordon, Earl of Huntly.-History:...
, a beautiful castle overlooking The Gordon Schools
The Gordon Schools
The Gordon Schools is a six year, non denominational comprehensive school located in Huntly, Aberdeenshire. It takes pupils from Gordon Primary, Insch Primary school, and smaller primary schools located around that area of Aberdeenshire such as Clatt and Rhynie. Its head teacher is Alexander Hall,...
. It also is the home of the famous Deans bakers which produce world-famous shortbread biscuits. In November 2007, Deans of Huntly opened their new visitor centre.
Its neighbouring settlements include Keith
Keith, Moray
Keith is a small town in the Moray council area in north east Scotland. It has a population of around 4,500....
and Rothiemay.
Historic home of the Gordon Highlanders
There is salmon and trout fishing on the Rivers Deveron
River Deveron
The River Deveron , known anciently as the Dovern, is a river in the north east of Scotland. The river has a length of 60 miles, and has a reputation for its salmon, sea trout and brown trout fishing...
and Bogie, which are administered by the River Deveron Salmon Fisheries Board.
Huntly has a primary school (Gordon Primary) and a secondary school (The Gordon Schools).
Its principal outdoor activities include golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, Nordic Skiing
Nordic skiing
Nordic skiing is a winter sport that encompasses all types of skiing where the heel of the boot cannot be fixed to the ski, as opposed to Alpine skiing....
in Clashindarroch Forest
Clashindarroch Forest
Clashindarroch Forest is possibly the largest forest in Aberdeenshire, situated to the south-west of the market town of Huntly. Managed by Forest Enterprise. Location of a series of trails for Nordic Skiing managed by the Nordic Ski Centre....
, walking, mountain biking
Mountain biking
Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...
and Rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
. The local football team is Huntly F.C.
Huntly F.C.
Huntly F.C. are a senior football club currently playing in the Highland League in Scotland.They were founded in 1928 and play their football at Christie Park, Huntly....
. Andrew Musgrave was given the keys to the town after his performance at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. He is known around the town as "Fabula" which means "The Legend" in Latin.
Nearby is the start point of Scotland's longest horse ride trail, Highland Horseback, running 200 miles to the West Coast,.
A Dule Tree
Dule Tree
Dule or dool trees in Britain were used as gallows for public hangings. They were also used as gibbets for the display of the corpse for a considerable period of time after such hangings...
exists at Leith Hall.
Notable people
James LeggeJames Legge
James Legge was a noted Scottish sinologist, a Scottish Congregationalist, representative of the London Missionary Society in Malacca and Hong Kong , and first professor of Chinese at Oxford University...
(1815–1897), scholar and missionary to China, was born in Huntly and educated there and at King's College Aberdeen before leaving to his first mission post in Malacca in 1839. Across the next 43 years he worked in Hong Kong translating all the classic books of the Confucian canon in a huge series of books, a set still considered to be the gold standard of English translations today. He frequently returned to Huntly across his life in China, bringing three young Chinese lads to live there and get "a good Scottish education" in 1845. By the time they returned to China in 1848 they had all been invited to meet Queen Victoria, then a lively young woman. Legge retired from his mission work in Hong Kong in 1873, was named the first Oxford Professor of Chinese in 1876, and lived there until his death. His father Ebenezer Legge had been Mayor of Huntly, and the Legge family home is still in use, on the main square.
William Milne (missionary) (1785 – 1822) was the second Protestant missionary to China. He was the founding headmaster of Ying Wah College in 1818 at Malacca
Malacca
Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...
. This school was subsequently moved to Hong Kong by James Legge in 1843.
Huntly was the home town of the writer George MacDonald
George MacDonald
George MacDonald was a Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister.Known particularly for his poignant fairy tales and fantasy novels, George MacDonald inspired many authors, such as W. H. Auden, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, E. Nesbit and Madeleine L'Engle. It was C.S...
(1824–1905). Some of his novels, especially the Robert Falconer and Alec Forbes of Howglen play partly in Huntly, even if the name of the town is changed, and give an introduction to the life in Huntly in the 19th century.
Huntly was home to the composer Ronald Center
Ronald Center
-Biography:Center was born in Aberdeen, but in 1943 moved to Huntly, Aberdeenshire where he lived for the rest of his life.-Works:Notable works include the choral piece Dona Nobis Pacem and a Symphony The Coming of Cuchulain.-External links:* *...
(1913–1973), who lived there from 1943 until his death in 1973, teaching first at the Gordon Schools, then privately.
Big John Henderson, a PDC darts player, is from Huntly.
Strathbogie Fighter Pilots Is Huntly's and surounding area's local motorcycle club. That frequent one of the Pubs "the Royal Oak".